Programming Just Got Fun

As a mother raising 2 boys in the "Video Game Era" I often try and find games that will not only entertain them but educate them. Trust me, It's hard! So you can imagine how I feel about finding out about a video game that teaches Java Programming to it's players.Well computer scientist William Griswold and graduate students of the University of California have done just that. The Game is called CodeSpells.

CodeSpells is designed for elementary to high school students (ha...I bet a few of us college kids will need it too). In CodeSpells the Player is a wizard who has to resort to using Java Programming to cast spells because they've are unable to perform magic. So far the game has been tested on 40 pre-teen girls who  seemed to get a knack for some of he basic programming codes in less than an hr.

 According to the university, “By the time players complete the game’s first level, they have learned the main components of the Java programming language, such as parameters, for if statements, for loops and while loops, among other skills.”  Coxworth

CodeSpells announced just today, April 9th 2013, that it's Beta version has just been released. unfortunately it has only been released for MAC with promises of the Windows version being released soon. The MAC version however is now being tested in elementary schools.

"In this stand-alone version you can expect to be introduced to basic concepts such as looping, conditionals and methods/parameters in this explorative magical environment. We are working hard to ensure that you get to experience all of the quests and explorative world!" Esper

Coxworth, B. (2013, April 9). Video game teaches Java programming language to players. Retrieved April 9, 2013, from Gizmag: http://www.gizmag.com/codespells-java-video-game/26992/

Esper, S. (2013, April 9). Code Spells: Learn to Program by Crafting Your Own Magic Spells, BETA Release! Retrieved April 9, 2013, from http://codespells.blogspot.com/: http://codespells.blogspot.com/